There’s a reason that airlines dress their pilots in military-type uniforms and Del Monte makes bone-shaped Milk-Bones. People like products that look the part. Good showmanship is a part of good marketing.

I recently stumbled upon a marvelous example of showmanship when I needed to unclog my bathroom drain. (I blame the beard.) I have poor luck with brands typically sold in grocery stores, so I headed to The Home Depot, bent on buying the meanest, nastiest, no-nonsense-est product they had.

The shelf was lined with formidable-looking brands, but one stood out. The black bottle, beefy in its own right, sat inside its own resealable plastic bag. A warning label was printed on the bag. The implication was clear: the contents of this bottle were so nasty as to require one more layer of protection.

I doubt whether the product was any tougher than the competing brands sitting next to it. I am certain that no fumes could leak from the bottle if properly closed. But the showmanship of the bag won me over. Whether or not the bag is superfluous, I mused, these guys have earned my business.

My drain was suitably impressed as well, as evidenced by the fact that now, once again, it flows freely.

When I am out and about and need a hotspot, I have learned to count on McDonad’s, Starbucks, Zions Bank (my client and bank) and other places to provide one free of charge.

Free hotspots are so common that by now I take them for granted. These days I tend to notice when they are not available. And, I resent places that want to charge me for use. The other day I was in a restaurant that wanted ten bucks for the privilege of logging on for an hour. I was peeved. (They would have been better off not providing the service at all.) I made a mental note not to take clients there if there’s the slightest possibility that in the course of business I’ll need to log on.

Offering a hotspot may be a competitive advantage for a little while longer. But I bet we are fast getting to the point where not offering one will become a competitive disadvantage.

Author, investigator and friend Brian Dunning just released the fourth book in his must-have Skeptoid series. Not only can you order it here, you should.

It’s not a marketing book. Except, yeah, it’s very much a marketing book. Consider Chapter 31, “Some new logical fallacies.” Marketers fall prey to logical fallacies as much as anyone else. The result is usually a costly yet avoidable marketing mistake. Or Chapter 1, which is about network marketing. Or the chapters about highly marketed products and services such as martial arts, simulated-barefoot shoes, disease prevention, therapeutic touch, the Mozart Effect, gluten-free diets, and more.

The rest of the book, besides being fun and entertaining, is a study in clear-headed, evidence-based thinking. We can all use the refresher. Each of the 50 illuminating chapters is just the right length and fully satisfying— what John D. McDonald once referred to as a “snack.”

SL mayoral candidate Crockett tries to duck out on a invoice, then fibs

This morning I shared with one of my associates why I do not support Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Mark Crockett.

At the outset of his political career—he set his first-attempt sights on the United States Congress—Crockett sought to engage the RESPONSE Agency. When I met with him, my inner Flakey Client Warning Alarm went off. Admittedly, “political candidate” is almost enough to trigger the alarm on its own, but in this case there were other reasons. I declined his business.

My then-fiancée, a freelance writer who needed work, decided to take on Crockett as a client. She delivered the project he ordered, following which he failed to pay his bill. He didn’t even have the decency to refuse to pay or to challenge the amount; he simply ignored it. She sent repeated reminders, which he also ignored.

Finally, she took Crockett to Small Claims Court. When the court date arrived, Crockett didn’t bother to show up. Naturally, the court ruled in her favor.

A few weeks later, presumably upon receiving the court’s judgment against him, Crockett mailed a check for payment in full. He enclosed a note that blathered about having gotten so busy that he simply overlooked paying her invoice.

Simply overlooked? Simply overlooked after several meetings with her, accepting work from her, and receiving repeated billing statements and a Small Claims summons?

“He is a would-be thief and a liar,” I told my associate, without exaggerating.